Jasper Jams: Who The Heck Is That?

Every now and then you’ll stumble upon a great musician online that you really love and if you ask anyone about them, no one has a clue who you’re talking about. You get obsessed with them and follow them closely, and some of them, you get to watch as they get big and others, you get to watch as they disappear from the music scene. Either way, you have a special connection to this band or singer that feels like your band or your singer.

This week, I’ve chosen to honor some of those unknown-by-nearly-everyone-I-know artists that I’ve found. All of the artists’ vibes vary but all their music is lyrically strong, sonically sound and fun.

Who knows, maybe we’ll see some of these musicians get big and then I’ll get to tell you that I told you that you should’ve listened to them sooner.

A bonus to this JJ: look them up on Spotify and look up related artists, you may discover more musicians you’ll come to love.

Harmony Woods

Harmony Woods is the music project of 18 year-old, Pennsylvania native Sofia Verbilla who graduated high school a week or so after I did. Before she graduated, she put out her first album, “Nothing Special,” which the band Modern Baseball helped her put together; in short, she is way cooler than me. She was featured in a Stereogum article of the 40 best new bands of 2017. She has 572 followers on Spotify, 1,423 followers on Facebook, 1,310 followers on her music Twitter account and 1,598 on her personal account. It doesn’t seem like too many people know her, but I definitely think more should.

Noteworthy tracks to check out: Renovations, Jenkintown-Wyncote and The Best Things

Pearla

Pearla, otherwise known as Nicole Rodriguez, only has 209 followers on Spotify, 650 followers on Twitter, 387 followers on Facebook, 123 followers on Soundcloud, but was featured in a Buzzfeed article that also included SZA, Maggie Rogers, Bishop Briggs and Aminé (aka artists that already have a following and are really talented) and the Yes Network used her song in a video they tweeted out getting fans hyped for the return of baseball season. On her Facebook about page she lists her genre as “feelings” and her hometown as Brooklyn. She’s a New Yorker just like you; maybe you’ll connect with her tunes too.

Notable tunes to check out: Somewhere, Waking Up and Further to Go

DAISY

DAISY has 2,005 followers on spotify, 1,659 followers on Facebook, 1,572 followers on Instagram and 1,612 followers on soundcloud. The band lists their genre as “jazz, surf, soul” on Facebook and is comprised of members Daisy Hamel-Buffa, Alex Kasvikis, Maxx Morando and James Wolf, all of them from LA. The band released their EP “Smoke About It” in 2016. Not much comes up about the band when you search them as other albums and groups have had similar names. If it weren’t for a music-obsessed friend of mine, I’d never have heard of DAISY, so consider me to be your music-obsessed friend introducing you to them.

Tracks to check out: Way Cool Baby Love, Too Sweet, and Someone

Will Jay

Will Jay [neé Behlendorf] was a member of an unsuccessful boy-band IM5 which garnered a fan following and support from Radio Disney, but that’s it; Will Jay left the band on his own. He appeared on China’s The Voice and has been featured in some articles online. He is the most popular artist to make this list with 8,440 followers on spotify, 90,000 twitter followers, and 1,193 followers on soundcloud. So why is he on the list? As popular as he is, Will Jay isn’t mainstream and my guess is whoever is reading this probably hasn’t heard of him. Also, some of his original tunes aren’t available on Spotify, a marker of someone still in the process of getting somewhere with music.

You should check out: Carnival, Watercolors and Gangsta

Note: “Jasper Jams” is a bi-weekly column designed to provide you with a regular dose of music: new and old, well-known and undiscovered. Each week, I will include information on up and coming artists, new music trends or a themed playlist.

News in Pictures

Categories

Social Media

About The Quadrangle

A tradition since 1924, The Quadrangle is a news organization run by the students of Manhattan College. We strive to cover news around campus and the greater community, publishing weekly in print and daily online. Our goal is always accuracy, relevancy and professionalism.
The staff of The Quadrangle meets every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. in room 412 of the Kelly Commons.
The opinions expressed in The Quadrangle are those of the individual writers and do not not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the College or the student body.